Knitting-machine.



No. 632,327. Patented Sept. 5, I899.

G. F. STURGESS.

KNITTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Nov. 14, 1898.)

(No Model.)

/27 Fig.1 56

2 Sheets-Sheet l.

lUitn asses In men tor. (9% Z figzam M g UNTTED STATES PATENT @nrrcn.

GEORGE E. STU RGESS, OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND.

'KNITTlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,327, datedSeptember 5, 1899.

Application filed November 14, 1898. Serial No. 696,445. (N9 model.)

To all 1071,0111 it nuty concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE FREDERICK;

STURGESS, hosiers engineer, a subject of the Queen of England, residingat the Inglenook,

Leicester, in the county of Leicester, England,

This invention refers to knittin -machines particularly to those whichhave two needlebeds coacting.

This invention has for its object to dispense with the pivots, movingcam-plates, carriers, springs, elastic bands, and such like devices nowemployed to retain or hold webbers in the slideways of the comb of theneedle-bed; also, to dispense with the dial-posts, lugs, retarders, andsuch like devices now employed to normally maintain the fixed relationof the fixed needle-beds; also, to dispense with the weights, rollers,and such like devices now employed to normally hold rib fabric inknitting position and to impart apiercing action to carry free staple tothe back of the fabric, obtaining a self-retaining slidable webberdevice operable from the bed-face and a more elastic and smoother-facedfabric than heretofore.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation view of coacting needle-beds of thecylindrical and radial type, out through on lines A and B of Fig. 2.Fig. 2 is a top view of the needle-beds shown in Fig. 1 with a portionof the radial bed cut away. Fig. 3 is a top view of the detachable partof the first needle-bed separated, showinghow it is pieced up; and Fig.4 is a sectional view of the same through one of the attaching-screws.Fig. 5 is a front elevation view showinga part of the coactingneedle-beds and the stitch-hook or webholder, looking at the right sidesof Figs. 1 and 2, the detachable part of the cylindrical bed beingomitted in order to show the webbencomb ways and recesses,the first bedbeing broken away at its upper edge in one part to clearly show thefront edge of the second bed. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation view of apart of the beds with the webbers and the detachable part of thecylindrical bed omitted, clearly showing the combway and recess. Fig. 7is an under side View of a part of the radial needle-bed shown in Fig.1, showing the comb. Fig. 8 is a side view, and Fig. 9 a top view, of adetached webber. Fig. 10 is a side view of a stronger form of webber foruse in coarsegaged machines. another modification of webber and of thetop part of a needle-bed in which the detachable part of the needle-bedis omitted. Fig. 12 is a side view of the webber shown in Fig. 11,disclosing the manner in which it is connected to its fixing-blade. Fig.13 is asection view of the fixing-blade detached, cut through on lines 0Dof Fig. 12. Fig. 14 is asectional elevation view showing a modifiedform of webber applied to a well-known combination of ooactingcylindrical and conical needlebeds. I Fig. 15 is a top view of a portionof the cylindrical needle-bed shown in Fig. 14, showing the webber-cam.Fig. 16 is a front View ofa portion of the cylindrical needle-bed shownin Fig. 14, showing the webber-cam. Fig. 17 is a sectional elevation oftwo coacting needle-beds, showing another form of the webber applied toa Well-known combination of flat needle-beds; and Fig. 18 is a plan viewof a portion of the needle-beds. Fig. 19 is a sectional elevation, Fig.20 is a front view, and Fig. 21 a top view, of a portion of an ordinaryneedle-bed, showing a further modification of webber constructed inaccordance with this invention adapted to existing needle-beds.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, .4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, above the face 1of the first needle-bed is the usual webber-comb 2; also, recesses 3 inthe face of the bed, making a continuation of the combways 5, extendingdownwardly and inwardly from the front to the back of the needles 27atpoint 4. At the bottom of. each of Figull is a view showing 7 thecombways 5 is provided a slideway-seating 6 and 7, extending up the facesideand down the back side 8 of the base of the bed, making a pluralityof webber bearings. Seated in the grooved surface 39 isa detachablepart, which is comprised of two parts 40 and 41, pieced up in the groove39 by attaching-strips 42 and 43, screwed to the ends of the parts 40and 41 by screws 44, 45,46, and 47. Grooves 49 for the passage of theneedles and webber-comb ways 50 in line with the re,- cesses 3, thebottoms of which form the conveXedslideway-seatings 51, are provided inthe detachable part. The complete bed forms.

in the webber-comb open-ended guideways, each of which has a pluralityof slideway seatings or bearings, any two of which form sufficientlength of bearing to detachably retain a coarse and durable webber.

The second bed 21 has a webber-comb 20, extending from the front to therear of its needles 36, making broad Openings 23 for the passage of theknitted loops and narrow openings 24 in alinement with the combways ofthe first bed for the reception of the needlepointed webber-teeth andprojecting teeth 22, which serve to hold the fabric up to the piercingaction of the webber-teeth and by engagment with the sides of thewebbers to hold the two beds locked in a fixed relative position.

The webber 9 (shown in Fig. 8) is provided with a plurality ofneedle-pointed teeth, comprised of a needle-pointed tooth 10, making ahook 11 for engagement with the newlyformed loops, and abreast 12, overwhich the thread-loops are drawn, and a needle-pointed hook 13 below thebreast 12 for piercing the mesh or loops of the completely-formed fabricto carry free staple through from the face to the back of the fabric anddepress the fabric. In order to knit fabric from rough and long stapleyarn with a smooth face, extra needlepointed teeth are added below thebreast 12, as seen in 'Fig. 8, one of which is bent aside to enter theneedle-loops. (See 52, Fig. 9.) The webber is also provided withinwardlyprojecting shanks 14.- and 15 and openings 17 and 18, making aclear (having no cam-foot projections) slide-seating, continued up oneside and down the opposite side, forming a plurality of slide seating orbearing edges, which serve by engagement with the slideway seatings orbearings 6, 7, and 51 to make the webber self-retaining in the combways.

The needle-beds and webbers shown are drawn in a very coarse gage inorder to clearly illustrate the device; but in practice in suchcoarse-gaged and strong beds and webbers as those shown, in which thereis also sufficient room for the rear shank 14 to be retained, thedetachable part 40 and its seating 51 are omitted, as shown in Fig. 6,in which case the webber is made stronger by being shanked, as seen inFig. 10, its front opening being omitted. Each webber is provided with acam-recess 19.

In working position the webbers protrude from the combways to the faceof the bed and are operated by an arch-cam 30, engaging the sides of therecesses 19, secured to a traveling part of the machine 25, comprised ofparts and 26, joined by pivot 29 and spring-clasp 28, the part 26 ofwhich may be opened for the handling of the needles 27 or webbers 9. Aninner swell 33 and outer swells 34 and 35 of the arch-cam 3O slide orreciprocate the webbers in the comb-guideways, the swell withdrawing theneedle-pointed teeth from the fabric and from the comb of the secondneedle-bed, while the thread is drawn across the breasts 12, and newloops are formed and passed through between the connecting-beds, and theswell 34 or swell 35, according to the direction of knitting, slides theneedlepointed teeth in the opposite direction into the comb of thesecond bed in a manner as to pierce all loops with which it may comeinto contact rather than trap or cut the loops upon the second bed,causing the teeth below the breasts to pierce the succeeding courses ofloops, carrying loose or free staple through the completely-formed meshand increasing the elasticity of the fabric by making the loops moreround and slides the upper teeth into the comb of the second needle-bed,bridging over the intervening space and makinga complete connection withthe two beds, except on that section where the swell 33 of the arch-camwithdraws the webber-points from the second combway to allow of theformation and passage of new loops between the needlebeds.

In machines of fine gage so much of the substance of the detachable partis cut away by the frequency of the adjoining needle-grooves andcombways as to leave insufficient strength or room for theattachingscrews 44, 45, 46, and 47, and consequently such a fine-gageddetachable convex slideway seating or hearing 51 if it could be made inthis combined form would be useless. Therefore in such a fine machinethe said slidewayseatings are detached from their ring-support, as itwere, and made separately in the form of fixing-blades. Eachfixing-blade is comprised of the counterpart of a webber inserted in acombway, and bears or carries the webber, making a compound or two-partwebber 54 and 56, as seen in Fig. 11. The fixing part 53 is chopped orpressed from the movable toothed part 54 in the position shown in Fig.12. The cross-bar 55 connects the strip 58 to the body 56 to allow thefixing part 53 to be swung around the shank of the toothed part 54 intothe operative position, Fig. 11. The needle-bed has a groove 57, whichadmits the setaside part 55 to hold the blade 53, which is wedged in thecombway, in position, while the toothed part 54 is reduced on its sidesto allow of its sliding freely in the combway in the manner shown inFig. 11. This compound webber can be detached when the shank 14 is notcut away even by sliding the toothed part backward until the shank 14passes over the upper edge of the base 1 of the needle-bed, when thefixing part 53 and toothed part 54 can be forcibly withdrawn from thecombway and afterward separated.

In applying the device to existing coarsegage machines in which thewebbers may be made thick and strong enough to allow of it it is notnecessary to construct a special needle-bed. I adapt the ordinaryneedle-bed, as seen in Figs. 19, 20, and 21.

dles having been replaced by needles having shanks of finer gage intheir upper part, a

The coarse neecomb is out in the upper edge of the needlebed 77, thecombways of which are in line with the needle-grooves 76, each combwaybeing provided with a seating up the front and continued down the backor opposite side of the bed, making a plurality of seatings 78 and 80 onthe base of the bed 77. The webber 75 is inserted in the comb-slideway,the back shank 79 sliding on the seating SOand the front shank 74sliding on the seating 78 in side a needle-groove 76 alongside a needle.Referring to Fig. 19, the arched webber-cam 71, engaging the recess ofthe webber, fixed on a traveling part of the machine similar to thearched webber-cam before referred to, slides the webber from thefull-line position by first lifting and then pressing the webberhorizontally to the dotted position while new loops are formed, thensliding it back again to fullline position by drawing it downward.

Referring to Figs. 14:, 15, and 16, the device is shown applied to thewell-known inverted conical second bed. The slideway-seatings 59 and 60in the recesses and combways on the base 1 of the bed, beneath the comb2, and the seating edges of the webbers 61 are necessarily on straightparallel lines, the extremity of the rear shank being in this casepointed and serving the purpose of a fabric-piercing tooth. The comb 69,which extends downward at the back of the needle-tricks and needles 68of the second bed, holds the fabric up to its piercing action as itenters the comb. The webbers are operated in a similar manner by anarched cam 64, engaging the recess in the webber and secured at theangle shown by screws 66 and 67 to a traveling part of the machine,which in this case is faced up at 70 to the edge of the outerwebber-shank, giving the webber further support.

Referring to Figs. 17 and 18, the invention is shown applied to thewell-known parallelbed type of machine, the webber 7 3 being mounted andoperated on the beds 71 and 72 in a similar manner, as will be instantlyunderstood by comparison without further reference.

I am aware that it is common for webbers (web-hooks, web-holders,stitch-hooks, and loopers) to be held up to a straight or curvedseating.

I declare that what I claim is 1. A knitting-machine provided with twoneedle-beds coacting, each having a combway for the reception of thesame set of webbers, the combways of the first bed provided at theirbottoms in the base of the bed with slideway-seatings continued up oneside and down the opposite side, forming a plurality ofslidewayseatings, detachably bearing webbers provided withneedle-pointed teeth, and shanked inwardly with a correspondingplurality of clear seating edges, and means located on the outside ofthe beds, to slide the pointed teeth into and out of the combways of thesecond bed and the fabric, serving to rigidly hold the needle-beds infixed relative position, and pierce and depress the fabric made on thetwo beds, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

2. A knitting-machine provided with two needle-beds coacting,. eachprovided with combways for the reception of, the same set of webbers,and slidable webbers having needle-pointed teeth mounted in the combwaysof the first needle-bed, and means to re ciprocate their needle-pointedteeth into and out of the combways of the second needlebed, whereby thewebbers pierce each succeeding course of loops and depress the fabric,carrying free staple through to the back, and holding the two beds incorrect alinement to each other, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

3. A knitting-machine provided with two needle-beds coacting, eachprovided with combways containing the same set of slidable webbers,bridging over from bed to bed above the knitted loops, locking andholding the two beds in correct alinement with each other, and means torecede the webbers out of engagement with the combways of the second bedto allow of the formation and passage of new loops between the two beds,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4:. A knittingmachine provided with a needle-bed having webber-comb waysand re cesses in its face, extending downwardly and inwardly to the rearof its needles, each of which is provided with a slidewayseating,continued up one side and down the opposite side, forming a plurality ofslideway-seatings detachably bearing a webber shanked inwardly with acorresponding plurality of clear (having no cam-foot projections)slideseating edges, and means, located forward of the bed-face, tooperate them, substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

5. A knitting-machine having a needle-bed provided with webber-combways, extending downwardly and inwardly to the rear of its needles, eachof which has a plurality of oppositely-posed slideway-seatings, andcontaining webbers, each of which has an inwardly-shanked body, providedwith seating edges conforming to the slideway-seatings, mounted as to beoperable from the bed-face, and means forward of the bed-face to operatethem, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. A slidable webber comprised of a blade having a hooked or toothedupper part, shanked inwardly to a plurality of clear (having no cam-footprojections) seating edges, said edges being on lines parallel to eachother, adapted to slide in and upon the base of the needle-bed, providedwith a corresponding plurality of slideway-seatings, and be operated byacam located forward of the needlebed face,substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

7. A slidable webber double-shanked inwardly from the hooked or toothedpart, provided with a plurality of clear (having no cam-footprojections) seating edges on lines parallel to each other,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. A slidable Web holding and piercing device, comprised of a bladehaving a plurality of needle-pointed loop or fabric engaging parts orteeth located beneath each other on its fore part, adapted to slide inthe combways of a needle-bed, and means to reciprocate it, whereby theupper tooth engages the newly-made loops, and the lower tooth piercesthe loops of the completely-formed fabric, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

9. A slidable webber provided with a fabricpiercing tooth situated belowthe breast or thread-drawin g part, adapted to slide in the combways ofa needle-bed, and be reciprocated as to pierce the loops or mesh of thecompletely-formed fabric, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

10. A slidable webber, the hook or tooth of which is brought to a needleor piercing point, adapted to pierce any knitted loop or thread withwhich it comes in contact rather than trap or cut it, substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

11. A knitting-machine having a needlebed provided atits top withwebber-comb Ways and two-part or compound detachable Webbers, eachwebber comprised of a fixing-blade secured in its oombway,making in thecombway a webber-guideway, having a plurality of slideway-seatings, anda hooked movable blade slidably fitted in the guideway so made upon thefixing-blade, the whole of the compound webber being detaohably retainedin its coinbway, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

12. A knitting-machine having provisions for piercing and depressing thefabric between coacting beds, and for locking the two needle-bedstogether, consisting of needlepointed toothed webbers,detachably slidingin the first bed upon a plurality of bearings in the combways,whichextend downwardly and inwardly to a point in the rear of the needles,and engage the teeth of a combway, which extend downwardly and inwardlyto the back of the needles of the second bed, in a manner as to beoperable from the face side of the needle-beds,substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

Dated this 5th day of November, 1898.

, GEO. F. STURGESS.

\Vitnesses:

E. BROOKSBY, THOMAS SooT'r.

